How to do the run and gun technique?

[Brandon]

I use a compound bow and i was wondering what is the run and gun technique and how would i use it effectively?

[jakebird]

The terminology can be a little confusing. Obviously, literally running thru the woods would be a really bad idea, what it entails is a mobile hunting strategy. Its a good plan if you are uncertain where to begin your hunt (roost set up or strut zone, feeding area, etc.), or when gobblers arent talking much and you are cruising, covering ground trying to solicit a gobble from an interested bird. I like to do it from an elevated route, a logging road that follows a ridgetop is ideal. Another good bet is sneaking along fencerows or just inside the timber of field edges in more open terrain. You quietly slip along, calling every hundred yds or so, until you get a response. Since u said u were a bowhunter, i assume you use a blind. Im not sure how much run and gun you would want to do while packing a blind, and there will be times that u get a very close response and may not have time to set it up. Run and gun hunters are typically shotgunners, and they tend to travel light, as they may cover many miles in a day.

[jakebird]

Some added advice would be that whenever you pause to call, look around and make sure you have a quick setup nearby that you could flop down and be ready very quickly. Also, make the first of each series of calls of a soft to moderate volume. There could be a bird very close and blowing him away with your loudest calling may spook him. Build volume and intensity gradually. I finish each series with loud cutting, to try and "shock" one. Dont forget locators, too. Every few stops, i'll mix some sharp crow calling just to add some variety. You never know which sound will trigger a response, but higher pitch calls tend to get more responses in general. I suppose you could run and gun with your blind if you took it down and set it up again every few hundred yds, and waited to call till u were ready each time. It would be at a slower pace, but that isnt necessarily a bad thing. Let us know how it works for you. Most bowhunters set up camp in one spot, in their blind, and wait.

[spaightlabs]

If you can hold at full draw for a good bit or you can find good cover to shoot from behind run and gun is a great bow technique too.  I've had my best luck when I can be in a wooded area or creek bed with a lot of open land around me.  Stop, call, listen.  If you get a response, get ready, and be in a spot where there is something between you and the bird to use as cover or at least to break up your outline and give you a chance to draw.

[redleg06]

I'll go ahead and say that I've never killed one with a bow but my technique wouldnt change much from what i usually do from when I'm trying to cover ground.

I do a real slow run and gun most of the time. Meaning, I'll take and be very easy thru the woods looking and listening a bunch and walking very slowly and stopping often. I'm trying to see or hear one as I move instead of having a pre-set destination in mind. It seems like when you have a pre-determined spot in my, you tend to put your head down and just go and end up bumping birds, alot of times without even knowing it. 

So I take and ease a long and then when I get to a likely looking spot, I'll set up and call for 15-20 min (this depends on a lot of things....are they being vocal, size of the property I'm hunting, amount of turkey sign in the area etc)  and if I havent heard anything, I'll move on to the next spot.  You could do this with a bow because I would think the set up is just that much more important.